Minutes:
Nicola Rossiter, Senior Consultant and Stakeholder Engagement Lead and Victoria Robinson, Senior Planner, Arup, were welcomed to the meeting. There will be a public consultation on Chepstow Transport Study in early November and the slides presented today will be available at this time.
The main presentation points:
· Introducing the WelTAG Stage 2 Transport Study for the Chepstow Area and the current context (COVID 19, Brexit, Removal of Bridge tolls, climate change announcements etc.)
· The problems to be addressed have been reworded and reordered and the priorities of the Wellbeing of Future Generations have been embedded. The issues centre on high levels of congestion, increased traffic flows and air quality. Additionally there is limited bus connectivity and higher relative cost of public transport journeys. The aim is for solutions that have low emissions, that are sustainable and that integrate and encourage active travel.
· The 21 long list schemes has been reviewed and put into five categories to impact on:
o Reducing the need to travel
o Active travel and cycling
o Public transport options
o Ultra low emission vehicle
o Highways options
· The 21 options were tested against the study objectives including some stakeholder engagement. Options were reduced from 21 to 15 which have been further tested.
· The five categories have been reduced to four, the final two being combined.
· The public consultation is in early November and the group was urged to encourage as many people as possible to participate.
Questions were asked as follows:
· A Member asked if the study has taken into account the recent discovery of more damage to the old Chepstow Bridge enquiring if it will have to be closed down for repair. Gerallt Dafydd, Arup, confirmed that this aspect has been taken into account in the study. It was explained that there are no plans currently to close the bridge as it is an important route. It was emphasised that this is a cross border scheme backed by Forest of Dean District Council, Gloucester County Council, Welsh Government, Welsh Office and Department of Transport, whilst being led by Monmouthshire County Council.
· A Member asked what model was used to measure the cross border traffic flow. Gerallt Dafydd explained that access was available to the Severn Tolls model. The highways schemes in the options will be tested accordingly. It was asked if there was any modelling from the Forest of Dean direction. This information will be shared with the group member after the meeting.
· A Member asked how the public consultation will be organised. It was responded that there will no opportunity for a public consultation meeting in person because of the pandemic. The event will be arranged in a digital space but a hard copy of the documentation and survey plus a freepost addressed envelope to return will be made available to those people with no access to (or inclination to use) technology. The Chair offered the help of the Communications Team in Monmouthshire. The Forest Economic Partnership also offered to promote the consultation.
The Chair thanked the contributors for the interim report, adding that any further information would be welcomed for circulation to the Group.